


Until the Last Leaf Falls

by PogoChanXP



Category: Naruto
Genre: (that are technically adults), A-Rank missions for example, F/F, F/M, Jealous Sasuke, M/M, Meddling Kids, Naruto does too, Naruto finds it cute tho, Possessive Sasuke, Protective Sasuke, Sakura has no fucking idea what's going on, Sasuke really likes the idea of Naruto being a dad, Soccer Mum Naruto, Time Travel Fix-It, Two gay husbands traveling through time to save the world, as in this boy will glare at a spoon if Naruto's giving it more attention than him, he didnt sign up for two angsty husbands in twelve year old bodies, he is so proud of his friends, jealous naruto, neither does Kakashi, sassy naruto, save him honestly, they also make dates out of moments that should NOT be dates, they enjoy confusing everyone, they just wanna be in love, they meddle a LOT, theyre domestic as fuck, where was i going with these tags?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-04-04 03:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14010966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PogoChanXP/pseuds/PogoChanXP
Summary: "We're from the future. Or well, what was supposed to be the future, since we're planning on fixing what went wrong. There was this big war, well two big wars, and the entire population was taken out. All of the Hidden Villages, everyone. Teme and I were the last ones after we killed Madara but we were about to die too so Kurama showed us this time jutsu and we got zapped back. Oh yeah, and we're married. Did I miss anything Sasuke?""Nope, that about sums it up."(Time-Travel fic.)





	1. On Sleepless Roads, The Sleepless Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYYYYOOOOOOO! I love SasuNaru time travel and stuff so I thought, why not write my own? This. This is why I shouldn't have written my own. But hey, I only have like three fics on this site o who cares if I fall behind and never complete any of them?....-sweats-
> 
> (title song: Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World)

He can't say he wasn't expecting this. Complete annihilation. Sasuke kneels silently beside his equally weakened leader, both of their eyes set firmly on the rubble that once was Konoha. The blonde beside him lets out an empty chuckle and drops to his knees, ignoring the raven's worried stare. "We did it. We defeated Madara."

"We did." Sasuke nods stiffly, knowing his friend is not done. Naruto's deep blue eyes blink and for a split second he fears he may cry, but no tears fall. He used up all of his tears long ago.

"But for what? Everything we fought to save... all of it was destroyed in the end. We waged war in the hopes of creating a peaceful nation once more but all we did was aid its downfall. I failed Sasuke... I failed as Hokage."

"You did no such thing," Sasuke's eyes turn steely and he grips the blonde's shoulder. "The villages knew what they were getting into when they agreed to fight this war. You gave them hope for a future-"

"Only to take it from them!"

"So you'll just blame yourself?! If that's how you see it then I failed too!" there is a silence after his words, both of them out of breath from their short moment of screaming. They both hold back cringes of pain as various wounds bleed out onto the rocky ground below them.

 

Red chakra flows from Naruto and takes the form of a small fox, no bigger than a cat, with nine fluffy tails. The fox gives the two a weak smile and walks over, accessing their wounds. The boys greet the fox with respectful nods. "Kurama, it's good to see you."

"And I you, young one. It seems you killed that blasted Uchiha, but have suffered great injuries of your own."

"Nah these are nothing," Naruto chuckles before he's cut off by a body racking cough. Sasuke's rubs his back in the hopes to ease the pain for the blonde. A burst of worry fills him when he sees blood dripping from Naruto's lips.

 

Kurama noses the Jinchuriki's face and receives an aching smile. "You don't have much time left, even my chakra can't heal all the damage your bodies sustained. Naruto, Sasuke, I need you both to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say, it's your last chance.”

“Last chance?” Sasuke asks. “Last chance to what?”

The fox grins. “To save the world of course.”

 

\-------------------------------------

 

“This is a bad idea.”

“Yep.”

“We’re probably going to die.”

“Yep.”

“We’re doing it anyway, aren’t we?”

“Yep,” Sasuke sighs but can’t exactly bring himself to get annoyed at Naruto. He was the one who had truly experienced the loss of their village. While Sasuke had returned and proved his loyalty, he had never had the same connection to the place as Naruto did. To watch it all crumble to the ground must have been one of the hardest things he’d ever experienced.

“Well, it’s not like we’ll be alive much longer anyway. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”

Naruto gives a small smile, the most genuine smile he’s had since Sakura’s death. “We’re going a little bit further than the end of the world this time, are you sure you’re up for it?”

Of all the stupid-

“Don’t be a Dobe,” the Uchiha grabs the blonde’s face in his hands and pulls him so close they touch noses. He feels a swell of pride when he sees the blush spreading over Naruto’s cheeks. “As if I’d let my husband travel through time by himself, what kind of jerk do you take me for?”

“I’m just giving you an out, in case-“

“Naruto,” this shuts him up. “I’m in love with you, I have been since forever. No matter where you go, I will follow. I left you once and it was the biggest mistake of my life, I won’t let that happen again. Now, how does this time traveling thing work?”

“Right, so Kurama explained it to me in super basic detail ‘cause it’s actually a really complex jutsu but anyway. It’s called the Reverse jutsu, it was created by Sage of Six Paths who passed it on to the Tailed Beasts to be used only if the most irreparable thing has happened. Ya know, like the end of the world. The reason it’s such a difficult jutsu is because I’ll need to intertwine the chakra of everyone who I’m taking and we all need to have a clear picture of what timeline we’re traveling to. The chakra thing should be fine considering I’ve done it with Kurama loads but it’s the other part I’m worried about.”

Sasuke takes a moment to think.

“The obvious choice would be the chunin exams, because that’s when everything began but it doesn’t give us much time to change anything.”

“Which only gives us a few more options, because unless we can both clearly remember the moment we’re traveling to, so that crosses out our early childhood.”

“Well, what about the Academy graduation day? It’s early enough that we can prepare our team for the future and we both remember the date. Plus it means Kakashi won’t have met us yet so if we act differently he won’t notice.”

Arms wrap around the ravenette’s neck and pull him into a very tight hug.

“Sasuke-teme, you’re a genius!”

“Oi, don’t suffocate me you idiot!”

“As much as I enjoy seeing you both molest each other, can it wait ‘til later? We have a jutsu to do.”

The two lovers turn to look at the unimpressed fox watching them, matching blushes filling their faces.

“We weren’t-“

“That wasn’t-“

“Save it for someone who actually cares, frivolous human things such as sexual intercourse mean nothing to me. Now then, are you ready to change everything that went wrong?” The question brings a serious air to the empty battlefield, all traces of humour gone. This was really happening.

‘Right, Sasuke you’ll need to hold onto me so that the jutsu doesn’t rip us apart and throw us in different timelines. Kurama’s gonna return to his seal so we probably won’t hear from him until the Waves mission.”

“Got it, let’s go save our friends.”

 

 

 

“Time Redemption: Reverse Jutsu!”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this fic isn't gonna be my main focus. Fix Me is what I'm spending most of my time on, this is more something fun to do on the side. So don't get too pushy for updates please.


	2. I Could Scream Forever, We Are the Poisoned Youth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got friends sleeping over and we've got a literal candy bar I am ready for this. But yeah here's the second chapter, tell me what you think.
> 
> (title song: Centuries by Fall Out Boy)

Sasuke is not pleased. He’s currently sitting in class in the Ninja Academy, in his twelve year old body, surrounded by his now alive (and also twelve year old) friends, without his blonde. Don’t get him wrong, he’s delighted the jutsu worked but it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have his lover with him.

He had woken up that morning to find himself in his childhood bedroom in the Uchiha Compound. When he had married Naruto and the younger man had moved in with him, they had taken residence in the clan-head’s quarters. The first thing he had done was look to the space beside him where the blonde would usually reside, only to find it empty. He had searched the whole compound and then tried to find Naruto’s old apartment but he hadn’t found his husband.

So it’s easy enough to assume he’s just a tad depressed. That doesn’t stop the gang of girls from swooning at the ‘stoic’ and ‘mysterious’ vibes that he was giving off. Sasuke wasn’t even aware that he had vibes. The slamming of the classroom door alerts everyone of a certain goofball’s entrance and, despite himself, Sasuke looks up in hope.

There he is, smiling as bright as the sun with his eyes as blue as the sky. As beautiful as the day he had married him and – Kami Sasuke hopes he isn’t imagining that the Jinchuriki’s eyes seek him out with what looks like eagerness.

Naruto waltzes up the rows of tables, answering pointless jabs and taunts as he goes before he reaches Sasuke’s seat and plonks down beside him with a familiar grin.

“Teme,” he says with a teasing lilt to his voice and, yeah that’s _his_ Naruto.

“Dobe,” he replies with equal fondness hidden within his words and enjoys the subtle way Naruto lights up. They had both made it back. They were together and this time, nothing would come betwe-

“NA-RU-TOOOOOOO!”

 

A horde of elephants rips into the room and tear the boy out of the seat and straight onto his ass. Said elephant has long pink hair and a pair of emerald eyes and – wait its Sakura! The sad truth hits the both of them at that moment. They would have to retrain Sakura out of her fangirl phase. A task that was hard enough to do the first time around and took many years and murder attempts on Sasuke’s part before she took the hint. Measures they didn’t want to reach this time around.

“What do you think you’re doing sitting next to Sasuke-kun, Baka?! He doesn’t want you near him!” The Uchiha’s eyes narrow in anger. How dare she talk to his Naruto like that? He doesn’t care if this Sakura will grow to become one of his closest friends, right now she is nothing more than another fangirl.

Because of that, he didn’t stop himself from standing up, gaining the attention of the entire class.

“S-Sasuke-kun!” He ignores her, pushing past to get to Naruto and reaching a hand down to lift him up. His blonde doesn’t make eye contact and that makes Sasuke’s blood boil. He knows all about how insecure Naruto is on the inside. He also knows how much the treatment of the village affected him, and to suddenly be back in the time where everyone hated him – Sasuke didn’t even want to imagine how much pain he’s already hiding. “E-erm, Sasuke-kun. You don’t wanna bother with _Naruto_ , do you?”

He turns to Sakura with a glare and she flinches. He doesn’t grace her with a sound, instead pulling Naruto with him back to their desk and seating them as they were moments before. The classroom is dead silent (which is quite remarkable really), everyone gaping at the two supposed rivals. As far as they knew the two hated each other but from their interactions today, it’s like they’re suddenly best friends. Needless to say everyone’s confused.

 

 

Naruto’s back is slammed against the closed door, his mouth being attacked by his lover. He kisses back just as hungrily, drinking in the taste of the Uchiha. He had thought he was alone, he had been so scared that he wouldn’t have Sasuke with him that the idea of him being there too hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Sasuke pulls away first, resting their foreheads together and just staring at the fox boy. “I woke up and you weren’t there. I checked your old apartment building and- “

“When I woke up alone I kinda freaked,” Naruto admits, embarrassed. “I ran out and just broke down in Training Ground Three, didn’t go home till midnight.” The raven kisses him again.

“It’s okay now, we both made it back. We’re here, together. We can grow up together this time, the whole team.”

Tears build up in Naruto’s eyes, trickling down his whiskered cheeks without a sound. Sasuke frowns, wiping them away with the softness of a mother. If someone else were to witness this display, they’d think the two of them were spies because these actions were not the actions of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, which is true. This moment, the quiet spoken words, the delicate touches, these are the actions of Uchiha-Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha-Uzumaki Sasuke. The married couple who have just travelled back in time to save the Elemental Nations from its destruction. Doesn’t seem like that big of a task.

With a sniffle the tears stop, a stronger look overtaking the Jinchuriki’s face. He’s a Hokage, or he used to be, or is it will be? Nevertheless, as Hokage, he needs to look past his feelings to see the problem at hand (something Sasuke has grouched about more than once).

“Mission report,” he orders and Sasuke is quick to react. He straightens up and his face turns stony. A true Anbu.

“Konoha remains just as it once was, every resident that had been present the first time around are here and our classmates are the same as they used to be. Nobody seems to be aware of our alterations in time.”

“Good. Any and all things that happen are to be reported back to me, no exceptions.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” a miniature smirk crosses Sasuke’s lips as Naruto scowls.

“I’ve told you to stop calling me that, it’s weird.”

“But I thought you always wanted me to recognise that you’d make it to Hokage. Now I’m recognising it and you don’t want me to? You should make up your mind, Hokage-sama.”

“I’ll make you shut up is what I’ll make you do.”

“Then shut me up, Dobe,” a teasing glint passes through Sasuke’s eye and he’s tackled to the ground with a muffled laugh. They’d deal with the difficult things later, for now they would just exist together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a slut for soft SasuNaru, what can I say? While this story does have a plot and stuff, expect lots of stuff on relationships because I'm incorrigible.


	3. They Can't Change the Locks, Don't Let Them Change Your Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be finished like two weeks ago but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ had to sort some personal shit out.
> 
> (Check Yes Juliet by We the Kings)

After they had collected themselves, Naruto and Sasuke return to class just as the lunch bell rings, calling back all of the students. A lunchtime well spent. The class returns to their seats and Naruto notices the subtle way Sakura places herself beside him, despite her obvious distaste, to be close to Sasuke. He internally mourns the loss of the friendship they had (or will have). It’s hard to go from being best friends with someone to having them scorn your existence with no reason to believe you’re anything more than an idiot.

 

Iruka enters the room with a clipboard in hand and a smile on his face. He stands at the front of the room and with a bright, cheery attitude, announces the newly graduated teams.

“On Team 1: Mitsuko Kiyoshi, Midori Hana and Akihiko Akemi. You will meet your sensei in room 32,” the three genin stand and make their way out, chatting quietly with each other as though they’ve been friends for years.

As Iruka drones on and more students leave, Naruto and Sasuke find themselves growing more bored by the second. It’s hard to believe but over the years Naruto has become _less_ patient than when he was younger, it doesn’t help that he has an Uchiha as a partner, a clan that was known for being extremely short-tempered and easily annoyed. The two learned that neither enjoy waiting and doing exactly that right now is slowly killing them. It’s not a long wait but that’s not the point. The point is that they don’t want to have to listen to every student before them leave hopeful when the husbands know that they are inevitably going to fail. It’s kind of cruel.

Finally, however, Iruka called their number out.

“Team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. You will meet your sensei in this room so stay seated. Team 9:…” and so he goes on, but Naruto already knows the next few teams and he has no need to pay attention to his teacher anymore so he leans back and stretches, enjoying the way Sakura leans away from him and Sasuke refrains from leaning towards. They’re team really is destined to be a mess. He barely even notices when Iruka finishes calling out teams and exits, leaving Team 7 alone.

 

Now it was bound to happen, nothing anyone says can tell him otherwise. Kakashi is always going to be late and his team is always going to annoyed because of it. The only thing that makes it better is the sweet satisfaction of watching his blank expression as he gets hilariously pranked. Naruto doesn’t have much to work with in the classroom so he settles for redoing the classic blackboard eraser over the door prank. Sasuke’s nostalgic twitch of his lip shows that he made the right choice.

“Naruto,” Sakura admonishes, “you know you’re not supposed to do that. You’re gonna get me and Sasuke-kun in trouble.”

“Sasuke-kun and _I_ ,” Naruto corrects, ducking the pencil that gets thrown at his head.

He places the eraser between the crack of the door and hops down from his perch on a tilted chair. He could have walked up the wall but hiding his high skill set is probably for the best so he sticks to the simple things, like walking everywhere… man this is gonna be a pain.

He hurries back to his seat with a grin the size of the sun. Sasuke feels blessed to even be within the presence of such a beautiful sight. Sakura scowls and crosses her arms.

“Why are you even sitting next to Sasuke-kun anyway? He doesn’t wanna be near you, you know that, right?” Sasuke mentally compliments his strength in not attacking the pinkette for her words. Who is she to decide who he wants to spend his time with?

He never gets to give her a broody answer to defend his blonde because a hand reaches through the gap of the door and pulls it open. A head of spiky grey hair pokes in and the man stares down the three children with a bored expression, which doesn’t change as the chalkboard eraser drops onto his head, scattering chalk dust into the air. Sasuke swears he can hear a miniscule sigh of disappointment escape Kakashi’s lips and that thought is enough to lift his sour mood.

“Well, my opinion on you is that…” Sakura and Naruto lean forward in anticipation and Sasuke fakes a look of curiosity, all silently eager to know what their new sensei thinks. “I hate you. Meet me on the roof.” He disappears with a puff of smoke.

Sakura huffs and turns to Sasuke sweetly.

“Come on Sasuke-kun, we shouldn’t keep Sensei waiting. Don’t be late Naruto-baka,” with that she pivots on her heels and leaves, Sasuke and Naruto right behind her as she walks up the stairs. Oh how Sasuke mourns the freedom of being able to shunshin.

 

\------------------------------

 

“Okay, let’s have some introductions. Tell me about yourselves,” Kakashi says, leaning back on the fence with his arms crossed. Sasuke fights back a smile at the idea of him trying to look cool in front of a bunch of genin. The future him hadn’t changed, if anything he’d gotten much more self-confident what with becoming the sixth Hokage, so to see Kakashi so young and acting like a brooding emo was quite amusing. He and Sasuke have more in common than he had originally thought.

“What do you mean Sensei?” Sakura asks, because of course she does, like it isn’t obvious enough.

“You know, likes dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future; things like that.”

“Why don’t you go first, Sensei, to show us how it’s done,” had she always been this dumb as a genin?

“Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate… hm I don’t feel like telling you that… My hobbies? Well, I have lots of hobbies, and dream for the future? Never really thought about it. Now, your turn.”

“All he really told us was his name,” Sakura whispers to Naruto beside her and he nods, hiding a smile.

“You on the right, you start,” Kakashi gestures to Sakura. She straightens her back.

“My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes are… I mean the person I like is…” she blushes and looks at Sasuke from the corner of her eyes, who ignores her in favour of staring down Kakashi. He enjoys the slight tension in the jounin’s shoulders. “My hobbies are…” she breaks off into a fit of giggles. “My future dream…” Sakura squeals and Naruto covers his ears in pain. Oh yeah, the banshee side of her, he’d forgotten about that.

Kakashi remains cool and collected but the two young husbands see through his exterior, and by the small tilt of his mask, he’s grimacing. “Okay, you next,” Naruto straightens his back and puts on a large grin.

“Believe it, my name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan, Kura-san Iruka-sensei and seals,” he can tell that he’s already caught Kakashi’s attention. “I hate anyone who hurts my loved ones and those who can’t tell the difference between a storage scroll and the kunai sealed inside. My hobbies are trying different types of ramen and playing pranks. My future dream…” he has to think about this one for a second. “I want to protect everyone.”

Sakura snorts at this, muttering under her breath that he can’t save everyone while Kakashi just watches him with barely concealed interest. Naruto has to hide a snicker when he catches Sasuke’s squinted glare. He may have changed his introduction just a tad. Barely at all really.

“Alright, last one.”

The ravenette grunts. “My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like tomatoes and the Dobe, I guess. I dislike people who presume to know someone purely on what they assume,” he glances at Sakura as he says this before continuing. “My hobbies are training and reading; and my future dream is to restore my clan and find the one who killed them.”

Sasuke flicks his eyes to Naruto and lifts the corner of his mouth in a smirk. The dobe had told him he needed to open up more to his team this time around, well how’s that for opening up? He shared his interests and wasn’t even _that_ broody. Take that Naruto.

Kakashi coughs into his fist before standing. “Right, well you’re all… unique. Definitely _very_ unique, which is good. We’ll be meeting at Training Ground 3 at 6 tomorrow, don’t be late. Oh, and unless you want to throw up I advise you not to eat breakfast.”

The three new genin stand quietly in the fading smoke their sensei left behind, faces portraying the same over-it expressions. Behind Sakura’s back the boys share yet another amused look, this whole situation becoming more of an inside joke to them than a dangerous mission to save the Nations. Kami save them, they will _not_ be able to keep a straight face through all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo yo yo its me yah gurlllll. I'm not that proud of this chapter tbh but I had to get it out of the way so we can get to the juicy stuff -rubs hands sensually-
> 
> Oh yeah, do you guys want longer chapters? These seem a bit short so I thought I might link them together or something idk yet.


	4. Just Don't You Feel Too Bad When You Get Fooled By Smiling Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blahhhhhhh I'm back with a short one.
> 
> (Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing by Tori Kelly) (lmao I'm not sure who it's really by but this is who sung it in Sing so I just went with that)

Waking up next to Sasuke is a pleasure Naruto feels blessed to experience. There’s nothing like opening his eyes and seeing his husband (though, he supposes, they’re not technically married anymore) sleeping beside him, it’s one of the only moments where his face holds none of his usual stern and stony expression. Instead the Uchiha’s brow is relaxed and his mouth slightly parted, letting out small puffs of air that ruffle Naruto’s blonde locks.

Naruto runs a finger along Sasuke’s cheek, revelling in the serene air that hangs around him like this, how just by being near, he calms him. All he sees is peace and it’s beautiful. So really, who can blame him for nestling his face into his lover’s chest and going back to sleep?

 

Waking up next to Naruto is like being stampeded by a rhino then coming back the next day because you liked how it ran. To start with the blonde snores like no other, it’s almost like a chainsaw is sharing a bed with him instead of his husband. And then there’s the drool that pools onto the pillow, don’t even get Sasuke started on the drool. He has done everything imaginable to keep Naruto’s mouth closed in his slumber but it does nothing, every morning he wakes to the same disgusting puddle staring him in the face.  
But then he’ll see Naruto in full, eyelashes fluttering rapidly from whatever dream he’s having, nose twitching and limbs thrown every which way. It’s reassuring, the Uchiha notes, that even with Naruto’s horrible sleeping habits Sasuke still finds him adorable.

Being cute, however, does not save Naruto from being woken with a rough shove onto the cold ground. He lands face first without a peep, used to the crude ways of his love. All that leaves his mouth is a disappointed sigh of acceptance. Oh yeah, they need to do the bell test. Fun.

 

Naruto rises with a pout forming on his lips, fully prepared to try convincing Sasuke to let him skip it in favour of doing something more fun, like going to Ichiraku’s. Unfortunately, Sasuke saw this coming and instead of looking at him, throws a fresh pair of clothes at the blonde.

“Hurry up and get dressed, we need to leave soon.”

“Ne, Sasuke, you’re so cranky in the mornings.”

“I’m not cranky,” he grouches and Naruto pulls the clothes off of his head with a cheeky grin.

“So cranky, the crankiest.”

“Call me cranky again and you’ll be waking up in Rock Lee’s bed tomorrow,” and despite the obvious questions he has about this threat (such as, how on earth would he get him into Lee’s bed?), Naruto finds himself actually intimidated and so raises his hands in surrender. It’s best not to provoke Sasuke too thoroughly in the mornings, it’s when he’s at his crankiest.

 

The first time around waking up at five in the morning to go to the training grounds had seemed annoying and unnecessary but now the two time travellers know better. They’ve seen war, seen death, fought against its very hands and so they knew more than anyone that the more training they got, the better.  
Maybe, though, they should have thought ahead enough to realise how their new teammate might react upon discovering them already sparring heavily before their sensei has even arrived. Yeah, Naruto’s going to be feeling that bump tomorrow.

“Baka-Naru! What were you doing fighting my Sasuke-kun?! Training hasn’t even started!”

“Itai! Sakura-chan that hurt! Besides I wasn’t fighting Teme, we were sparring,” Naruto pouts and Sakura raises her fist for a second blow.

“He’s right, we were warming up ready for whatever Kakashi has planned for us.”

Sasuke’s words have an immediate effect. Sakura’s aggression turns to a dopey love-struck expression, her hands clasping beneath her chin.

“Of course you were, Sasuke-kun, you’re so smart to think ahead like that,” this just makes Naruto pout further. So Sasuke can train before Kakashi arrives but he can’t? Wow past Sakura is unfair.

With a huff he drops into a seated position and crosses his arms, forming the full moping expression in the hopes of making Sakura apologise. Based on how she’s staring at Sasuke, it doesn’t look like its working.

“When’s Sensei gonna get here anyway? He better not be late again like yesterday!”

“Be patient Naruto! He’s probably on his way right now!” She’s wrong but he lets it slide, instead choosing to lay back and closes his eyes, looking as though he’s asleep.

 

It takes a bit more effort than usual to gain access to his mindscape but Naruto ties that back to the whole time travel fiasco, besides he gets there in the end and what does he see but a giant slumbering fox behind a gate. He walks up to the demon and removes the seal without a word, pulsing out his own chakra to hold back the sudden wave that rushes out from Kurama. Said fox wakes with a yawn when he notices his freedom.

“Oh, it’s you. Took you long enough to get here.”

“Yeah well I’m here now, aren’t I?” Naruto retorts. Kurama stretches lazily inside the cage.

“You wouldn’t mind changing the landscape a tad, would you? I’m not one to be picky but I don’t exactly enjoy living in a sewer,” Naruto rolls his eyes.

A few minutes later and they’re now standing in a large grassy field overlooking a lake. Kurama scans it over with an approving eye.

“Not bad kit, you should go into decorating.”

“Kurama, be serious please.”

“First time I’ve heard that come out of your mouth, what’s up? What can I do for you and your filthy Uchiha husband?”

“Don’t call him that to start with, but we need your help. It’s obvious enough where we travelled to in the timeline but how are we supposed to hide our skills from Kakashi-sensei? He’s not stupid,” Naruto swears he hears Kurama mutter the words “wouldn’t be so sure,” under his breath but continues speaking before he can really bring any attention to it.

“He’ll notice if two newly graduated genin suddenly become powerhouses overnight, especially when they couldn’t seem to stand each other beforehand.”

“Honestly kit I’m not sure why you came to me, there’s not much I can do. My only suggestion is lock up most of your chakra stores, which should at least make you appear normal but all of this kinda rides on your own self-restraint.”

“But neither of us _have_ any self-restraint,” he stresses.

“Well then, I guess you’re screwed,” at Naruto’s exasperated groan he adds on. “Kit, what you decide to do in this timeline is your own choice, I can’t stop you. If you want to make the changes needed to stop the war from ever happening then you’re going to need to work hard and fast, meaning there’s not much time for explaining everything to confused teammates. If you’re going to hide it from them, hide it well.”

The blonde blinks. “Wow Kurama, you actually gave me good advice, what’s happened to you? Did the time travel mess with your brain?”

“I haven’t changed, you brat!” he roars, swiping a claw at the whiskered boy who dodges easily. Naruto laughs.

“You don’t mind me staying here while we wait for Kakashi-sensei to arrive, do you? I can leave.”

The fox turns his head away with a sigh and, catching Naruto by surprise, wraps the small boy up in one of his fluffy tails.

“Just don’t give me a headache, kit,” he mumbles and lays down, bringing his occupied tail close to rest beside his muzzle. Naruto stares up at the resting fox with shock, a look that slowly melts to reveal a grateful smile. He shuffles to lay down within the flush fur of the tail and releases a breath of content.

He’ll just relax here for a while, just a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not much happens in this, I'm sick and just wanted to post something. To those who commented on the last chap btw what I was going for with Naruto correcting Sakura was him doing it to annoy her, whether he was right or not.


	5. Chapter Five - Too Young to Feel This Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help, I'm exhausted. This chapter took so long to write, sorry its late guys.
> 
>  
> 
> (title song: These Days by Rudimental (ft. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen) )

“You fail!”

 

 

So the bell test went about as well as expected, all things considered. The Uchiha-Uzumakis managed to hold back their above-average (more than above-average if they’re honest but they need to keep a low profile, damnit!) skillsets and give the appearance of newly graduated genin with absolutely no clue about the world outside of the peaceful village.

They had even managed to closely recreate their behaviour from the first time around (something that Naruto is finding very annoying to continuingly say, he’ll have to talk to Sasuke about giving it a cool nickname or something).

And now here they are, faking looks of shock and horror at Kakashi’s words as he yells angrily at them.

“Naruto! You do everything by yourself, everything!”

 _Well, yeah_ , Naruto drawls internally, _there’s a reason for that_. Still he stayed silent and placed a stubborn frown upon his face, because that’s what Kakashi expects to see. He pushes the thoughts of resentment and self-pity deep down to the dark depths of his mind, locking them away inside the box where he stores all of his hard to handle emotions. He’d deal with them at another time.

Kakashi continues on. “Sakura, you obsessed over Sasuke who was gone, while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him.”

Sakura looks down in guilt, only now seeing the mistake on her part. She had been so focused on Sasuke that she had completely ignored her teammate who was in trouble. If this had been a real battle Naruto could have died and she would have done nothing to save him, and just the idea makes her stomach churn.

“And you, Sasuke, thought the others were so far beneath you they were worthless. Arrogance,” Sasuke clenches his fists tight at these words, not because they hurt, but because of the regret he feels for the way that he hadn’t thought of his teammates as anything more than a bother in their Genin years. He swears that this time, he’ll do things right, treat them like real friends. Well, more than friends in Naruto’s case but that’s for them to know and for others to find out.

Kakashi studies the three students with a critical eye, watching as they all seem to think over his words thoroughly. He doesn’t often get graduates who are willing to hear their mistakes, however, being able to take criticism isn’t enough to pass them. They have to prove that they are capable of both learning from their mistakes and of working together. He wouldn’t lose his team like he had lost Obito and Rin.

Kakashi interrupts their thoughts by clearing his throat, bringing their attention back to his imposing figure standing above them.

“I’m going to give you one more chance, but I’m going to make it much harder this time. You'll have three hours to get a bell, eat lunch now to build up strength but Naruto doesn't get any. It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail. I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?" he threatened, but it took Naruto all he had not to snicker out loud.

He had made sure to scamper off to the lunch boxes again, of course he wasn’t going to eat them, but seeing Kakashi’s face when he actually managed to sneak passed him was hilarious. He’d have to be careful with how he acted around Kakashi, but throwing him through the loop every now and then would be fine, right? Even if it wasn’t, Naruto will do it anyway because… well because it’s fun.

Kakashi’s glare disappeared with a poof of smoke, along with the rest of him, leaving the genin unsupervised and alone. Sakura releases a shaky breath of air.

“That was scary,” she says.

She and Sasuke open their bento boxes and Sasuke, without even hesitating, lifts a clump of rice up to Naruto’s mouth. Naruto accepts the food wordlessly. The pink haired girl beside them shrieks in horror.

“Sasuke-kun, no! Kakashi-sensei said not to feed him, you’ll fail!”

Sasuke rolls his eyes.

“Kakashi’s not here, so it doesn’t matter. Even if he was I’d still feed the dobe.”

“What? Why? You’d get into trouble,” she asks.

“Simple. He’s part of our team, which means we don’t leave him hungry when we have enough food to share. Kakashi already failed us for not working together, I’m not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. I’d do the same for you.”

The Uchiha, thankfully having mastered the art of concealing his emotions, is having a great time. Watching Sakura overreact about any slight show of friendship or attention is hilarious. Her face goes all red and she makes a sound like a dying whale out of water. Of course he’d never tell her that, lest she remember it when they’re older and seek revenge. No one is safe from future Sakura. No one.

“S-Sasuke-kun, would you really?” she looks close to tears as she says this, and Sasuke feels slightly bad. This is the closest he has ever been to acting like a friend to her as genin.

“Don’t get too excited, I did say I’d do it for both of you. I expect that to be returned if I’m ever in a bad position, got it?”

“O-of course, Sasuke-kun. You can count on me.”

“Don’t even worry about it, Teme, with us three as a team, we’ll be undefeatable!” Naruto pipes in.

 

From the shadows of a tree Kakashi watches the genin, a surprised glint in his eye.

“It seems I might have judged these kids too soon,” he mutters under his breath, unaware of the enhanced ears listening intently to his every movement, and easily overhearing his quiet words.

With all the information he needs, Kakashi flashes back into the clearing, an evil expression covering his face. He skims his eyes over the three cowering (Uchiha’s do NOT cower, he was merely crouched down to better defend his teammates) children, vaguely wondering why it looks like Naruto’s trying to hold back a smile.

“You fed him.”

It isn’t a question. Thunder booms in the background, making his form all the more intimidating. Sasuke straightens up in defiance.

“He’s one of us, we stick together from now on, even if that means we fail together,” he says, and his words seem to spark a flame inside the other two.

“Yeah, yeah! Sasuke fed me because we’re a team, dattebayo! Fail us if you want, we’ll just come back next year even better!”

Even Sakura, the presumably respectful teacher’s pet, spoke up.

“Yeah, Sensei! Sasuke-kun fed Naruto because the three of us are one! You said those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum, well we weren’t going to abandon each other like we did in the test.”

Kakashi looks on at the twelve year olds, all with a firm look of determination, as though they really are willing to stand together at the cost of their future. It makes something fond swirl inside his chest, something that feels almost like pride.

“Is that what you think? Well then, my final decision is… you pass,” he smiles as he finishes. The three genin blanch in disbelief.

“We, what?” Sakura mumbles. “Pass? How?”

“It’s just like you said, I told you not to feed him, but I also expressed the importance of teamwork. It was a simple test of wills, were you able to disobey an order to do the right thing? All of my other teams did as I asked, and because of that, they failed,” Kakashi explains. “Team 7 has its first mission tomorrow, make sure to get a good night’s sleep.”

Sakura and Naruto cheer in happiness, Sasuke letting slip a proud smirk. They’re ninjas now, they had done it. The Uchiha cuts the ropes that bind Naruto to the post and helps the blonde to his feet.

They’re one step closer to saving everyone, now their mission really begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I'm gonna do a quick little rant here because I'm sad and my life is kinda a mess. Me and my grilfriend broke up, which is completely my fault because dating me is shit and like no hard feelings we're still friends but its been rough. There's other stuff but yeah, I feel sad and all that's keeping me going right now is writing these stories, so I managed to bring myself to update. Anyway if you actually read through all of that, good for you. I usually save these rants for my klance fic but y'all lucked out.


	6. Stay Up On That Rise, Stay Up On That Rise, And Never Come Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAH SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE SO LONG! THIS IS CHAPTER HAS BEEN SITTING HALF FINISHED FOR MONTHS AND IT'S NOT VERY GOOD WHOOPS!
> 
> (title song: High Hopes by Panic! at The Disco)

“ _ Sasuke, in position _ .”

 

“ _ Sakura here, in position. _ ”

 

“ _ Naruto? Are you there? _ ”

 

“I hate cats,” Naruto grumbles into the earpiece, arms crossed as he glares at nothing. Through the earpiece he can hear Sasuke’s soft chuckle, the sound putting a delicate smile to the blonde’s lips. He really loves Sasuke’s laugh.

“ _ Good to know but I more meant are you in position _ ,” Kakashi says.

“Oh, right. Yeah, I’m ready, just give the signal.”

“ _ Okay team… and… NOW! _ ”

 

At once the three genin pounce out of their hiding places, leaping at the unsuspecting cat sitting in the clearing. Tora jumps up with a yowl but he’s too late, getting grabbed by his tail and dragged into Naruto’s arms.

The cat begins to flail his legs around wildly, claws gleaming as it fights for freedom. Naruto yells in pain, holding the cat back at arm’s length as it lands multiple hits across his face, leaving deep red marks along his cheeks.

“Ow, ow, ow! Get this cat away from me!” the blonde screams, practically throwing the cat at Sasuke as he reaches to take it.

Almost immediately Tora relaxes, settling into the Uchiha’s hold and releasing a steady purr.

Naruto glares at the beast a few metres away, holding his stinging face with a pout.

“Devil,” he hisses and as though the cat can understand, it opens a single eye and hisses back at him before snuggling deeper into Sasuke’s chest. “Devil cat.”

“It’s only a cat, Naruto,” Sakura admonishes from beside him.

Right, Naruto thinks, because it’s not like you don’t also hate cats and that’s why you’re standing over here with me instead of cooing over Sasuke’s shoulder. That memory is one of Naruto’s favourites, the time he had learned of Sakura’s fear of cats.

It included tea, a well, a frightened cat and a thoroughly soaked, shaking Sakura. He looks back on that moment fondly even now. If there’s any moment he wants repeated in this timeline exactly, it’s that day.

Kakashi makes his way over to his three students, a tired expression on his covered face. The three are already wearing him down, poor guy.

“Let’s hurry and get him back to the Hokage. Maybe I’ll finally be allowed a break from you three after this.”

Naruto hums thoughtfully. “Unlikely. Gramps is a bit of a sadist, especially when it’s because of me. It’s probably because he likes seeing other people deal with me instead of him.”

A bead of sweat slides down Kakashi’s forehead.

“I’m really concerned as to how you know what a sadist is but I think it’s safer for my mental health if I just ignore it.”

Naruto gives a cheeky grin.

 

The Hokage has been the leader of this village for many years, and something he learned very quickly was to never be surprised by the crazy antics the shinobi can get into. He’s been faced with an anbu covered head-to-two in sewage, to a chunin woman with two broken legs and a parrot on her shoulder, nothing can surprise him anymore.

Atleast, that’s what he had thought. But nothing, not even years of indifference prepared him for Kakashi walking in with his three new genins, Naruto with scratches all over his body, the girl Sakura trying to discreetly hide behind him as on his other side stands the Uchiha boy with a cat curled up in his arms.

Sarutobi sighs.

“Mission report,” he says.

“Objective: find and capture lost pet Tora, complete,” Kakashi replies. “Awaiting further missions.”

“Well let’s see,” Sarutobi rolls open the D rank missions scroll, looking to see what other missions are available for the new team. “The Daimyo’s wife needs help with her gardening, she also needs someone to babysit her one year old --”

“CUT!” a voice calls out. Sarutobi can almost feel the years weighing down on him as he wearily lifts his head to see Naruto standing in front of him with his arms crossed over each other in the shape of an X. “Those aren’t missions, they’re just dumb chores that everyone else is too lazy to do! I wanna go on a real mission! With fighting and adventures and stuff!”

“Naruto!” Iruka’s voice sounds from across the room as he puts down the files that he was sorting through. “Show some respect to Lord Hokage, he’s giving you these missions because you’re only a genin!”

“What’s the point in training to be a ninja when we don’t actually learn anything about being a ninja?!” Naruto shouts back.

They both have good points, thinks Sarutobi blandly, but do they have to scream everything?

Kakashi is quick to end their little squabble, sending a swift fist to the top of Naruto’s head.

“I apologise for his behaviour, Hokage-sama, I’ll be sure to get his attitude in check.”

“There’s hardly a reason for that, Kakashi,” Sarutobi chuckles. “Many have tried but none have succeeded. Naruto is a wild horse never to be tamed, it’s better just accepting the best you’ll get is him yelling constantly. It could be worse.”

“Hey, stop talking ‘bout me like I’m not here, old man! Quit acting like you’re my grandpa or whatever!” Naruto huffs, sitting himself on the ground in a criss-cross, folding his arms over his chest and pouting like a toddler. Sarutobi looks down at him with a small smile, remembering when he was younger and would come to visit him in his office after school everyday. He missed those days sometimes.

“Naruto, about the missions. You’re a newly graduated genin, meaning you have little to no experience. That’s why you only receive D ranks for the time being, we assign the missions in this way specifically to be sure that no one is given a mission that they are not prepared for.”

“Boooooring! C’mon, how can we get any experience when all we’re doing is picking weeds and changing diapers?”

Sarutobi hesitates for a moment. He does make a compelling point. But that’s not the problem here. Years ago when Sarutobi had first told Naruto about the role of Hokage and the boy had claimed it as his future dream, he had made a promise to himself to support him while not becoming too biased towards him. It wouldn’t be fair to other potential candidates if he wrote them off just because the boy he sees as his own wants the same thing. He is facing the same issue here.

Part of him wants the give in and assign them a more interesting mission that the blonde would no doubt enjoy, but another part knows that would be unfair to the other genin who had graduated with them. None of those teams were yet ready for higher missions, maybe this team isn’t either, but Naruto seems so desperate for something more challenging. He’s faced with a dilemma.

Thankfully, Kakashi gives him the branch he needs.

“I suppose my team is ready for something a bit more challenging. If that’s alright with you of course, Hokage-sama.”

The Hokage giving into the whims of a child just because he wanted to is unacceptable, but the Hokage giving the team a C rank mission after their sensei requests one is a different matter entirely.

“I suppose it will keep Naruto from getting bored for a little while. As long as you’re sure they’re ready for it, Kakashi, I will give Team 7 a C rank mission.”

It shouldn’t warm his heart as much as it does to see Naruto’s face light up with those words, nor how happy it should make him to see the boy run over to the now catless Uchiha and shake his shoulder excitedly. He saves that image into his memory, along with the afterthought that he had never known that the two boys were friends.

“Your mission is to escort the bridge-builder, Tazuna to his home in the Land of Waves.”

Another thing that shouldn’t make him as happy as it does is the expressions on the three genins’ faces when the old drunkard walks into the room. They had asked for a higher ranked mission, that doesn’t mean he has to make sure they’ll enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's crackin' my guys, gals and non-b pals? So it's been a hot minute since I've seen you all yikes. I missed you guys sooooo much and I really appreciate all the love I got in the comments, even months after not updating I was still getting them. You're too good for me T^T legit tho it's been like half a year since I've done anything on here (a whole year if we wanna be technical douchebags lol) and I feel so bad for leaving you hanging for so long. So I'm back again and here to tell you that I'm actually doing really well. I got a good report for my last semester of school and the awkwardness between me and my ex has disappeared. We're back to being good friends and that makes me happier than anything.
> 
> So there's the update on my life, tell me how you're holidays and new year have gone for you so far in the comments!
> 
> All my love <3  
> ~Pogo


End file.
